UMass Lowell
Vermont
11:00 am, March 11
#25 Missouri
#4 Alabama
1:00 pm, March 11
Ohio State
#5 Purdue
1:00 pm, March 11
Norfolk State
Howard
1:00 pm, March 11
Saint Louis
VCU
1:00 pm, March 11
Cincinnati
#1 Houston
3:00 pm, March 11
Vanderbilt
#18 Texas A&M
3:30 pm, March 11
Penn State
#19 Indiana
3:30 pm, March 11
Fordham
Dayton
3:30 pm, March 11
Texas Southern
Grambling
5:30 pm, March 11
Tulane
Memphis
5:30 pm, March 11
#7 Texas
#3 Kansas
6:00 pm, March 11
Utah State
#20 San Diego State
6:00 pm, March 11
#15 Xavier
#6 Marquette
6:30 pm, March 11
Kent State
Toledo
7:30 pm, March 11
Marist
Iona
7:30 pm, March 11
#21 Duke
#13 Virginia
8:30 pm, March 11
UAB
Florida Atlantic
8:30 pm, March 11
Cal State Fullerton
UC Santa Barbara
9:30 pm, March 11
#8 Arizona
#2 UCLA
10:30 pm, March 11
Grand Canyon
Southern Utah
11:30 pm, March 11

2019 San Jose State Spartans Team Preview

It’s been a tough start for Brent Brennan at San Jose State, going 3-22 in two years. It probably won’t get too much better in year three, as while QB Josh Love returns, most of the defense does not.

Offense

San Jose State was a pass-first team last year, and they had a solid Mountain West quarterback in Josh Love who did alright for the talent around him, averaging 6.8 yards per attempt. Just two of the top seven pass-catchers return, but they were the two with the most big-play potential in Tre Walker (18.3 YPC, five touchdowns) and Bailey Gaither (20.4 YPC, three touchdowns) both missed significant time last year but should be healthy in 2019. More than just two guys need to step up, sophomore Leki Nunn and junior JaQuan Blackwell are two guys with big potential.

Last year’s top rusher, Tyler Nevens, returns after averaging 4.1 yards per carry last year. All five starters return on the line and 305-pound Minnesota grad transfer Quinn Oseland will come to challenge at tackle. The run game improving should offset any regression in the passing game.

Defense

Boogie Roberts, Bryson Bridges, and Dakari Moore are among the losses on the defensive side of the ball, but some interesting pieces do return. End Cade Hall (three sacks, 1.5 TFL) is back on the line, and last year’s top two tacklers, Ethan Aguayo and Jesse Osuna return after combining for two sacks, 12 TFL, six PBUs, and three picks last year along with 199 tackles.

A couple of guys who dealt with injuries last year return in S Chandler Hawkins and NT Saliosi Latu. This will not be a good defense but they could improve on last year’s very poor numbers.

2019 Outlook

San Jose State is a tough job, and they should improve after last year’s one win year, but this will be a bottom 25 team in the country again even if they overachieve. The schedule is rough, but opportunities for wins are there, especially against Northern Colorado and New Mexico. This will be a tough year, but Brennan is starting to get recruiting back on track.

Schedule

DateOpponentopp. rankProj. Margin
29-AugNorthern ColoradoNRn/a
7-SepTulsa98-4.4
21-Sepat Arkansas68-15.0
27-Sepat Air Force97-10.6
4-OctNew Mexico1173.2
12-Octat Nevada95-11.5
19-OctSan Diego State66-9.3
26-Octat Army78-14.1
2-NovBoise State32-14.2
9-Novat Hawaii102-10.0
23-Novat UNLV108-7.2
30-NovFresno State51-12.1

Average Projected Record: 3.7 wins, 8.3 losses (2.1 wins, 5.9 losses)